Spirit TA and Furloughs

[fluther]

Spirits furloughs and TA have nothing to do with each other. Everyone is talking how Delta 80 pilots are paid twice as much as Spirit pilots. Well they didn't get that pay scale on their second contract...it takes time.

As for the furlough, when you have 50 hard lines you don't need 15 relief lines and 15 more reserve lines (November and December bids packages). I saw this comming long before it happened.

I don't like being out of work and spending my lifes savings just trying to pay my bills, but at least for Spirit, let's give management the bennefit of the doubt. I know the VP or Flight Ops very well, he would never put someone on the street un justly.

 

[enigma]

F.
There may have been more relief and reserve that you think is necessary, but by the end of the month schedulers were calling up line holders begging them to work/sit OT reserve. Just because the company builds a lot of relief lines doesn't mean that we are overstaffed. In fact, without a lot of senior pilots deciding to pick up a lot of OT we would not have needed to furlough.

enigma

 

[fluther]

There is a difference between being properly staffed and scheduling doing their job effectively.

 

[enigma]

F.
Even if I conceed that the furloughs could be justified. Your point only shores up my previous point that our problem is not overpaid pilots, it is inept management/ownership.

E.

 

[bottomfeeder]

***I know the VP or Flight Ops very well, he would never put someone on the street un justly.


Maybe he won't, but the owners will.


***Everyone is talking how Delta 80 pilots are paid twice as much as Spirit pilots. Well they didn't get that pay scale on their second contract...it takes time.


Maybe they wouldn't have to take such paycuts if they didn't have airlines like SPIRIT out there paying their pilots such a low wage.

 

[enigma]

Bottomfeeder. Sad, but true

The market has spoken, and the Spirit MEC was listening intently. Instead of holding the line, they saw thousands of furloughed pilots and blinked. They choose to protect their paltry wages and in doing so, set the bar for narrowbody flying at an almost alltime low.

The vote will be counted tommorrow at ten eastern.

We should know if the pilots also voted scared, or voted proud.

8N

BTW, for those who are thinking that the Spirit MEC is correct. They may be, if so it means that wages in this industry are going to get MUCH lower before they get any better.

 

[ACABlueridge]

I guess the votes have been counted.

http://www.alpa.org/alpa/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=2241

Doesn't give the details though.

 

[DC9stick]

90% of eligible pilots voted

70% for Ratification 30% against

 

[miaboeingcapt]

Any details on the new contract please?

 

[enigma]

Any details on the new contract please?

20% pay raise immediately. Good news, but that still puts us at 20% below the rest of the LCC's and only about half of SWA. We gave up our 4 hour daily guarantee, in exchange for a trip rig. Bad news, because the trip rig will cost anwhere from 3.24% (MEC numbers) to 10% (more realistic numbers) in total trip credit versus the 4 hour daily guarantee. In short, we got 20% and gave up 10%, leaving us with wages that are still closer to RJ wages than narrowbody wages. We made gains in some areas. We gained a commuter, call in honest program. We gained a little in self determination pertaining to end of month transitions, but lost the ability to bid into a conflict. We lost our NO JUNIOR ASSIGN policy, and gained nothing in return.

All in all, ownership got all they wanted, and we got almost none of what we wanted. We didn't even get a guarantee that the furloughees would be recalled, actually, this agreement almost guarantees that they will sit even longer because now the company will be able to abuse the current pilots (JA,etc) instead of bringing back the furloughees.

regards,
8N

 

[DC9stick]

We lost our NO JUNIOR ASSIGN policy, and gained nothing in return.


JA is at 200% pay and you still don't have to answer your phone!

They cannot JA a pilot if the pilot initiates the call, by ACARS, by jetbridge phone, by message to station they must call you and you must answer. It would be nice if they would unblock the caller ID though!

 

[jjbiv]

Spirit has ACARS?

joe

 

[DC9stick]

Spirit has ACARS in all but seven A/C,and that includes four DC-9's that will leave the fleet in April. Most of the fleet has Universal UNS-1K FMS's also.